I like it....convince me why not to throw a couple hundred more in and get a new one ...

This is a lawn tractor not a lawn mower. If you understand that you will be fine. The jd lawn mowers at lowes are not of this quality. Even with this being 40 years old it's far superior to a new tractor. It has a cast iron engine block not aluminum. Has a 3/16" steel frame not stamped sheet metal. Every moving part on this tractor has zerk fittings. New ones do not.

New ones go twice as fast, have twice the power, turn twice as sharp, and are usually hydrostatic. However, I'd buy this over a new one anywhere near the price range. You can pretty much do anything you want with this.

But it's got nothing on a Bolens large frame garden tractor with an Eaton 11 or Eaton 12 in it.

This is a lawn tractor not a lawn mower. If you understand that you will be fine. The jd lawn mowers at lowes are not of this quality. Even with this being 40 years old it's far superior to a new tractor. It has a cast iron engine block not aluminum. Has a 3/16" steel frame not stamped sheet metal. Every moving part on this tractor has zerk fittings. New ones do not.